Electronic device for performing authentication by using multiple biometric sensors and operation method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an electronic device for performing authentication by using biometric information and an operating method thereof, the electronic device comprising: a first biometric sensor for acquiring biometric information by a first method; a second biometric sensor for acquiring the biometric information or other biometric data by a second method; a display; and a processor, wherein the processor may be configured to acquire context information relating to the first method and the second method, select at least one method from the first method and the second method on the basis of at least a part of the context information, and display at least one graphic object corresponding to the at least one authentication method through the display.

BACKGROUND ART

Various embodiments of the disclosure relate to an electronic device forsupporting a plurality of biometric recognition methods, and anoperating method thereof.

With the development of information and communication technology andsemiconductor technology, various types of electronic devices areevolving into multimedia devices providing a diversity of multimediaservices. For example, electronic devices can provide a variety ofmultimedia services, such as a broadcast service, a wireless Internetservice, a camera service, and a music playback service.

As being used by an increasing number of users, electronic devicesprovide various user interfaces for users. For example, electronicdevices provide an authentication screen for inputting userauthentication information (e.g., fingerprint information, patterninformation, password information, iris information, face information,and the like).

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

An electronic device may authenticate a user on the basis ofauthentication information obtained using at least one biometricrecognition sensor. For example, the electronic device may obtain a faceimage, a fingerprint image, an iris image, or the like as theauthentication information and may compare the authenticationinformation with a reference template as reference information used forauthentication, thereby authenticating the user.

User authentication using the electronic device may be performed invarious situations. However, an adverse effect may occur to thebiometric recognition sensor during an authentication operation.Accordingly, the electronic device may obtain authentication informationhaving a low similarity with that of the reference template, thusreducing the user authentication rate of the electronic device.

An electronic device and a method according to various embodiments ofthe disclosure may provide the recognition rate of a biometricrecognition method on the basis of context information.

An electronic device and a method according to various embodiments ofthe disclosure may recommend a biometric recognition suitable for anauthentication operation.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosuremay include: a first biometric sensor configured to obtain biometricinformation using a first method; a second biometric sensor configuredto obtain the biometric information or different biometric informationusing a second method; a display; and a processor, wherein the processormay be configured to: obtain context information associated with thefirst method and the second method; select at least one method of thefirst method and the second method on the basis of at least part of thecontext information; and display at least one graphic objectcorresponding to the at least one method for authentication.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosuremay include: a first biometric sensor configured to obtain biometricinformation using a first method; a second biometric sensor configuredto obtain the biometric information or different biometric informationusing a second method; a display; and a processor, wherein the processormay be configured to: obtain context information associated with thefirst method and the second method; identify a first success rate, atwhich authentication is successful with the biometric information to beobtained via the first method, and a second success rate, at whichauthentication is successful with the biometric information and thedifferent biometric information to be obtained via the second method, onthe basis of at least part of the context information; and display agraphic object corresponding to the first method and a graphic objectcorresponding to the second method on the display on the basis of atleast part of the first success rate and the second success rate.

An operating method of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the disclosure may include: obtaining context informationassociated with a first biometric recognition method and a secondbiometric recognition method; identifying a first success rate, at whichauthentication is successful with biometric information to be obtainedvia the first biometric recognition method, and a second success rate,at which authentication is successful with biometric information to beobtained via the second biometric recognition method, on the basis of atleast part of the context information; and displaying a graphic objectcorresponding to the first method and a graphic object corresponding tothe second method on the basis of at least part of the first successrate and the second success rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device in a network environmentaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a program module according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates the configuration of a processor according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows an example illustrating an authentication procedureaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice processes authentication through a selected biometric recognitionmethod according to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B show examples illustrating a procedure forprocessing a biometric recognition method according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice performs an authentication operation on the basis of a selectedbiometric recognition method according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 11 shows an example illustrating an authentication operationaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice performs an authentication operation on the basis of a selectedbiometric recognition method according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 13 shows an example illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice performs an authentication operation for an application accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B show examples illustrating a procedure forperforming an authentication operation according to various embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 17 shows an example illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice outputs authentication suitability according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 19 shows an example illustrating a procedure for outputtingauthentication suitability according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice outputs guide information for improving authenticationsuitability according to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice determines a biometric recognition method to use forauthentication according to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B show examples illustrating a procedure forchanging a biometric recognition method according to various embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating another procedure for performing anauthentication operation of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which an electronicdevice detects user input while outputting authentication suitabilityaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 25A to FIG. 25C show examples illustrating an authenticationoperation according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present document are mentionedbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. An embodiment and theterms used in this do not intend to limit the technology mentioned inthe present document to a specific embodiment form, and should beconstrued as including various changes of the corresponding embodiment,equivalents thereof, and/or alternatives thereof. In the drawings, likereference symbols may denote like constituent elements. The expressionof a singular form may include the expression of a plural form unlessotherwise dictating clearly in context. In the present document, theexpressions “A or B”, “at least one of A and/or B”, etc. may include allavailable combinations of words enumerated together. The expressions“1st”, “2nd”, “first”, “second”, etc. may modify correspondingconstituent elements irrespective of order and/or importance, and arejust used to distinguish one constituent element from anotherconstituent element and do not limit the corresponding constituentelements. When it is mentioned that any (e.g., 1st) constituent elementis “(operatively or communicatively) coupled with/to” or is “connectedto” another (e.g., 2nd) constituent element, the any constituent elementmay be directly coupled to the another constituent element, or becoupled through a further constituent element (e.g., a third constituentelement).

The expression “configured (or set) to˜” used in the present documentmay be used interchangeably with, for example, “suitable for˜”, “havingthe capacity to˜”, “designed to˜”, “adapted to˜”, “made to˜”, or“capable of˜” in a hardware or software manner in accordance tocircumstances. In any situation, the expression “device configured to˜”may represent that the device is “capable of˜” together with otherdevices or components. For example, the phrase “processor configured (orset) to perform A, B and C” may represent an exclusive processor (e.g.,embedded processor) for performing a corresponding operation, or ageneric-purpose processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) or anapplication processor (AP)) capable of performing correspondingoperations by executing one or more software programs stored in a memorydevice.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdocument may, for example, include at least one of a smartphone, atablet personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, anelectronic book reader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, aworkstation, a server, a portable digital assistant (PDA), a portablemultimedia player (PMP), an MPEG-1 audio layer-3 (MP3) player, a medicaldevice, a camera or a wearable device. The wearable device may includeat least one of an accessory type (e.g., a watch, a ring, a wristlet, ananklet, a necklace, glasses, a contact lens or a head-mounted-device(HMD)), a fabric or clothing integrated type (e.g., electronic clothes),a human-body mount type (e.g., a skin pad or tattoo) or a bioimplantation type (e.g., an implantable circuit). According to certainembodiment, the electronic device may, for example, include at least oneof a television (TV), a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, an audiosystem, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a cleaner, an oven, amicrowave, a washing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a homeautomation control panel, a security control panel, a media box (forexample, Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV™ or Google TV™), a game console(e.g., Xbox™ or PlayStation™), an electronic dictionary, an electroniclocking system, a camcorder or an electronic frame.

In another embodiment, the electronic device may include at least one ofvarious medical devices (e.g., various portable medical measurementdevices (e.g., a blood glucose sensor, a heat rate sensor, a bloodpressure monitor, a body temperature meter, etc.), magnetic resonanceangiography (MRA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography(CT), a imaging equipment, an ultrasonic instrument, etc.)), anavigation device, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), an eventdata recorder (EDR), a flight data recorder (FDR), a car infotainmentdevice, an electronic equipment for ship (e.g., a vessel navigationdevice, a gyro compass, etc.), avionics, a security device, a car headunit, an industrial or domestic robot, a drone, an automatic teller'smachine (ATM) of a financial institution, point of sales (POS) of shops,an internet of things (IoT) device (e.g., an electric bulb, varioussensors, a sprinkler device, a fire alarm, a thermostat, a streetlight,a toaster, an exerciser, a hot water tank, a heater, a boiler, etc.).

According to certain embodiment, the electronic device may include atleast one of a part of furniture, a building/structure or a car, anelectronic board, an electronic signature receiving device, a projectoror various metering devices (e.g., tap water, electricity, gas, radiowave metering devices or the like). In various embodiments, theelectronic device may be flexible, or be a combination of two or more ofthe aforementioned various devices. The electronic device according toan embodiment of the present document is not limited to theaforementioned devices.

In the present document, the term ‘user’ may denote a person who usesthe electronic device or a device (e.g., an artificial-intelligentelectronic device) which uses the electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic device 101 within a networkenvironment 100 in various embodiments is described. The electronicdevice 101 may include a bus 110, a processor 120, a memory 130, aninput output interface 150, a display 160, and a communication interface170. In some embodiment, the electronic device 101 may omit at least oneof the constituent elements or additionally have another constituentelement.

The bus 110 may, for example, include a circuit coupling the constituentelements 110, 120, 150, 160 and 170 with one another and forwardingcommunication (e.g., a control message or data) between the constituentelements.

The processor 120 may include one or more of a central processing unit(CPU), an application processor (AP) or a communication processor (CP).The processor 120 may, for example, execute operation or data processingfor control and/or communication of at least one another constituentelement of the electronic device 101.

The memory 130 may include a volatile and/or non-volatile memory. Thememory 130 may, for example, store a command or data related to at leastone another constituent element of the electronic device 101.

According to an embodiment, the memory 130 may store a software and/orprogram 140. The program 140 may, for example, include a kernel 141, amiddleware 143, an application programming interface (API) 145, anapplication program (or “application”) 147, and the like. At least someof the kernel 141, the middleware 143 or the API 145 may be called anoperating system (OS). The kernel 141 may, for example, control ormanage system resources (e.g., bus 110, processor 120, memory 130, andthe like) that are used for executing operations or functionsimplemented in other programs (e.g., middleware 143, API 145 orapplication program 147).

Also, the kernel 141 may provide an interface through which themiddleware 143, the API 145 or the application program 147 may controlor manage the system resources of the electronic device 101 by accessingthe individual constituent element of the electronic device 101.

The middleware 143 may, for example, perform a relay role of enablingthe API 145 or the application program 147 to communicate and exchangedata with the kernel 141. Also, the middleware 143 may process one ormore work requests that are received from the application program 147,in accordance with priority. For example, the middleware 143 may grantpriority capable of using the system resources (e.g., the bus 110, theprocessor 120, the memory 130 or the like) of the electronic device 101to at least one of the application programs 147, and process one or morework requests.

The API 145 is, for example, an interface enabling the applicationprogram 147 to control a function provided by the kernel 141 or themiddleware 143 and may, for example, include at least one interface orfunction (e.g., an instruction) for file control, window control, imageprocessing, character control or the like.

The input output interface 150 may forward a command or data inputtedfrom a user or another external device, to another constituentelement(s) of the electronic device 101, or output a command or datareceived from the another constituent element(s) of the electronicdevice 101, to the user or another external device.

The display 160 may, for example, include a liquid crystal display(LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light emittingdiode (OLED) display, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display oran electronic paper display. The display 160 may, for example, displayvarious contents (e.g., a text, an image, a video, an icon, a symboland/or the like) to a user. The display 160 may include a touch screen.And, for example, the display 160 may receive a touch, gesture,proximity or hovering input that uses an electronic pen or a part of theuser's body.

The communication interface 170 may, for example, establishcommunication between the electronic device 101 and an external device(e.g., the first external electronic device 102, the second externalelectronic device 104 or the server 106). For example, the communicationinterface 170 may be coupled to a network 162 through wirelesscommunication or wired communication, to communicate with the externaldevice (e.g., the second external electronic device 104 or the server106). The wireless communication may, for example, include a cellularcommunication that uses at least one of long term evolution (LTE),LTE-advanced (LTE-A), code division multiple access (CDMA), widebandCDMA (WCDMA), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS),wireless broadband (WiBro), global system for mobile communications(GSM) and the like. According to an embodiment, the wirelesscommunication may, for example, include at least one of wirelessfidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth (BT), Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Zigbee,near field communication (NFC), magnetic secure transmission (MST),radio frequency (RF) or body area network (BAN). According to anembodiment, the wireless communication may include GNSS. The GNSS may,for example, be a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigationsatellite system (Glonass), Beidou navigation satellite system(hereinafter, “Beidou”)) or Galileo, the European global satellite-basednavigation system. Hereinafter, the “GPS” may be used interchangeablywith the “GNSS”. The wired communication may, for example, include atleast one of a universal serial bus (USB), a high definition multimediainterface (HDMI), a recommended standard-232 (RS-232), power linecommunication (PLC), a plain old telephone service (POTS), and the like.

The network 162 may include at least one of a telecommunicationsnetwork, for example, a computer network (e.g., local area network (LAN)or wide area network (WAN)), the Internet or a telephone network.

Each of the first and second electronic devices 102 and 104 may be adevice of the same or different type from that of the electronic device101. According to various embodiments, all or some of operationsexecuted in the electronic device 101 may be executed in another oneelectronic device or a plurality of electronic devices (e.g., theelectronic devices 102 and 104 or the server 106). According to anembodiment, where the electronic device 101 performs some function orservice automatically or in response to a request, the electronic device101 may, instead of or additionally to executing the function or servicein itself, send a request for execution of at least a partial functionassociated with this to another device (e.g., electronic device 102, 104or server 106). The another electronic device (e.g., electronic device102, 104 or server 106) may execute the requested function or additionalfunction, and forward the execution result to the electronic device 101.The electronic device 101 may process the received result as it is oradditionally, to provide the requested function or service. For this, acloud computing, distributed computing or client-server computingtechnology may be used, for example.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, an electronic device 201 may, for example, includethe entire or part of the electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1.The electronic device 201 may include one or more processors (e.g.,application processor (APs)) 210, a communication module 220, asubscriber identification module 224, a memory 230, a sensor module 240,an input device 250, a display 260, an interface 270, an audio module280, a camera module 291, a power management module 295, a battery 296,an indicator 297 and a motor 298.

The processor 210 may, for example, drive an operating system or anapplication program to control a majority of hardware or softwareconstituent elements coupled to the processor 210, and may performvarious data processing and operations. The processor 210 may be, forexample, implemented as a system on chip (SoC). According to anembodiment, the processor 210 may further include a graphic processingunit (GPU) and/or an image signal processor (ISP).

The processor 210 may include at least some (e.g., cellular module 221)of the constituent elements illustrated in FIG. 2 as well. The processor210 may load a command or data received from at least one of the otherconstituent elements (e.g., non-volatile memory), to a volatile memory,to process the loaded command or data, and store the result data in thenon-volatile memory.

The communication module 220 may, for example, have the same or similarconstruction with the communication interface 170. The communicationmodule 220 may, for example, include a cellular module 221, a WiFimodule 223, a Bluetooth module 225, a GNSS module 227, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) module 228, and a radio frequency (RF) module 229.The cellular module 221 may, for example, provide voice telephony, videotelephony, a text service, an Internet service or the like through atelecommunication network. According to an embodiment, the cellularmodule 221 may perform the distinction and authentication of theelectronic device 201 within the telecommunication network, by using thesubscriber identification module (e.g., SIM card) 224. According to anembodiment, the cellular module 221 may perform at least some functionsamong functions that the processor 210 may provide. According to anembodiment, the cellular module 221 may include a communicationprocessor (CP). According to some embodiment, at least some (e.g., twoor more) of the cellular module 221, the WiFi module 223, the Bluetoothmodule 225, the GNSS module 227 or the NFC module 228 may be includedwithin one integrated chip (IC) or IC package. The RF module 229 may,for example, transceive a communication signal (e.g., RF signal). The RFmodule 229 may, for example, include a transceiver, a power amplifiermodule (PAM), a frequency filter, a low noise amplifier (LNA), anantenna or the like. According to another embodiment, at least one ofthe cellular module 221, the WiFi module 223, the Bluetooth module 225,the GNSS module 227 or the NFC module 228 may transceive an RF signalthrough a separate RF module.

The subscriber identification module 224 may, for example, include acard including a subscriber identification module and/or an embeddedSIM. And, the subscriber identification module 224 may include uniqueidentification information (e.g., integrated circuit card identifier(ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., international mobilesubscriber identity (IMSI)).

The memory 230 (e.g., memory 130) may, for example, include an internalmemory 232 or an external memory 234. The internal memory 232 may, forexample, include at least one of a volatile memory (e.g., a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronous dynamicRAM (SDRAM) or the like) and a non-volatile memory (e.g., one timeprogrammable read only memory (OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), anerasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, aflash ROM, a flash memory, a hard drive or a solid state drive (SSD)).The external memory 234 may include a flash drive, for example, acompact flash (CF), a secure digital (SD), a micro-SD, a mini-SD, anextreme Digital (xD), a Multi Media Card (MMC), a memory stick or thelike. The external memory 234 may be operatively or physically coupledwith the electronic device 201 through various interfaces.

The sensor module 240 may, for example, measure a physical quantity orsense an activation state of the electronic device 201, to convertmeasured or sensed information into an electrical signal. The sensormodule 240 may, for example, include at least one of a gesture sensor240A, a gyro sensor 240B, a barometer 240C, a magnetic sensor 240D, anacceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, a proximity sensor 240G, acolor sensor 240H (e.g., a red, green, blue (RGB) sensor), a biometric(medical) sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor 240J, an ambientlight (illuminance) sensor 240K or an ultra violet (UV) sensor 240M.Additionally or alternatively, the sensor module 240 may, for example,include an E-nose sensor, an electromyography (EMG) sensor, anelectroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, aninfrared (IR) sensor, an iris scan sensor and/or a finger scan sensor.The sensor module 240 may further include a control circuit forcontrolling at least one or more sensors belonging therein. In someembodiment, the electronic device 201 may further include a processorconfigured to control the sensor module 240 as a part of the processor210 or separately, thereby controlling the sensor module 240 while theprocessor 210 is in a sleep state.

The input device 250 may, for example, include a touch panel 252, a(digital) pen sensor 254, a key 256 or an ultrasonic input device 258.The touch panel 252 may, for example, use at least one scheme among acapacitive overlay scheme, a pressure sensitive scheme, an infrared beamscheme or an ultrasonic scheme. Also, the touch panel 252 may furtherinclude a control circuit as well. The touch panel 252 may furtherinclude a tactile layer, to provide a tactile response to a user. The(digital) pen sensor 254 may, for example, be a part of the touch panel252, or include a separate sheet for recognition. The key 256 may, forexample, include a physical button, an optical key or a keypad. Theultrasonic input device 258 may sense an ultrasonic wave generated in aninput tool, through a microphone (e.g., microphone 288), to confirm datacorresponding to the sensed ultrasonic wave.

The display 260 (e.g., the display 160) may include a panel 262, ahologram device 264, a projector 266, a display driver interface (DDI)268, and/or a control circuit for controlling them. The panel 262 may,for example, be implemented to be flexible, transparent, or wearable.The panel 262 may be constructed as one or more modules together withthe touch panel 252. The panel 262 may include a pressure sensor whichmay measure the strength of pressure of a user's touch. The pressuresensor may be implemented so as to be integrated with the touch panel252 or may be implemented as one or more sensors separate from the touchpanel 252.

The hologram device 264 may show a three-dimensional image to the airusing an interference of light. The projector 266 may project light ontoa screen, to display an image. The screen may, for example, be locatedinside or outside the electronic device 201.

The interface 270 may, for example, include an HDMI 272, a USB 274, anoptical interface 276 or a D-subminiature (D-sub) 278. The interface 270may, for example, be included in the communication interface 170illustrated in FIG. 1. Additionally or alternatively, the interface 270may, for example, include a Mobile High-definition Link (MHL) interface,an SD card/Multi Media Card (MMC) interface or an Infrared DataAssociation (IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module 280 may, for example, convert a sound and an electricalsignal interactively. At least some constituent elements of the audiomodule 280 may be, for example, included in the input output interface150 illustrated in FIG. 1. The audio module 280 may for example, processsound information that is inputted or outputted through a speaker 282, areceiver 284, an earphone 286, the microphone 288 or the like.

The camera module 291 is, for example, a device able to photograph astill image and a video. According to an embodiment, the camera module291 may include one or more image sensors (e.g., front sensor or rearsensor), a lens, an image signal processor (ISP) or a flash (e.g., anLED, a xenon lamp or the like).

The power management module 295 may, for example, manage the electricpower of the electronic device 201. According to an embodiment, thepower management module 295 may include a power management integratedcircuit (PMIC), a charger IC or a battery or fuel gauge. The PMIC may,for example, employ a wired and/or wireless charging scheme. Thewireless charging scheme may, for example, include a magnetic resonancescheme, a magnetic induction scheme, an electromagnetic wave scheme orthe like. And, the wireless charging scheme may further include asupplementary circuit for wireless charging, for example, a coil loop, aresonance circuit, a rectifier or the like. The battery gauge may, forexample, measure a level of the battery 296, a voltage being in charge,an electric current or a temperature.

The battery 296 may, for example, include a rechargeable battery and/ora solar battery.

The indicator 297 may display a specific state, for example, a bootingstate, a message state, a charging state or the like of the electronicdevice 201 or a part (e.g., processor 210) of the electronic device 201.

The motor 298 may convert an electrical signal into a mechanicalvibration, and may generate a vibration, a haptic effect or the like.The electronic device 201 may, for example, include a mobile TV supportdevice (e.g., GPU) capable of processing media data according to thestandards of digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital videobroadcasting (DVB), mediaFlo™ or the like. Each of the constituentelements described in the present document may consist of one or morecomponents, and a name of the corresponding constituent element may bevaried according to the kind of the electronic device. In variousembodiments, the electronic device (e.g., electronic device 201) mayomit some constituent elements, or further include additionalconstituent elements, or combine some of the constituent elements toconfigure one entity, but identically perform functions of correspondingconstituent elements before combination.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a program module according tovarious embodiments. According to an embodiment, the program module 310(e.g., the program 140) may include an operating system (OS) controllingresources related to an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device101) and/or various applications (e.g., the application program 147) runon the operating system. The operating system may, for example, includeAndroid™, iOS™, Windows™, Symbian™, Tizen™, or Bada™.

Referring to FIG. 3, the program module 310 may include a kernel 320(e.g., the kernel 141), a middleware 330 (e.g., the middleware 143), anAPI 360 (e.g., the API 145), and/or an application 370 (e.g., theapplication program 147). At least a part of the program module 310 maybe preloaded onto an electronic device, or be downloadable from anexternal electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104, theserver 106, etc.).

The kernel 320 may, for example, include a system resource manager 321and/or a device driver 323. The system resource manager 321 may performcontrol of a system resource, allocation thereof, or recovery thereof.According to an embodiment, the system resource manager 321 may includea process management unit, a memory management unit, or a file systemmanagement unit. The device driver 323 may, for example, include adisplay driver, a camera driver, a Bluetooth driver, a shared memorydriver, a USB driver, a keypad driver, a WiFi driver, an audio driver,or an inter-process communication (IPC) driver.

The middleware 330 may, for example, provide a function that theapplication 370 needs in common, or provide various functions to theapplication 370 through the API 360 wherein the application 370 may makeuse of restricted system resources within an electronic device.According to an embodiment, the middleware 330 may include at least oneof a runtime library 335, an application manager 341, a window manager342, a multimedia manager 343, a resource manager 344, a power manager345, a database manager 346, a package manager 347, a connectivitymanager 348, a notification manager 349, a location manager 350, agraphic manager 351, or a security manager 352.

The runtime library 335 may, for example, include a library module thata compiler utilizes so as to add a new function through a programminglanguage while the application 370 is executed. The runtime library 335may perform input output management, memory management, or arithmeticfunction processing. The application manager 341 may, for example,manage a lifecycle of the application 370. The window manager 342 maymanage a GUI resource which is used for a screen. The multimedia manager343 may obtain a format used for playing media files, and performencoding or decoding of the media file by using a codec suitable to thecorresponding format. The resource manager 344 may manage a source codeof the application 370 or a space of a memory. The power manager 345may, for example, manage a battery capacity, temperature or powersupply, and identify or provide power information used for an operationof an electronic device by using corresponding information among this.According to an embodiment, the power manager 345 may interwork with abasic input/output system (BIOS). The database manager 346 may, forexample, provide, search or change a database that will be used in theapplication 370. The package manager 347 may manage the installing orrefining of an application that is distributed in the form of a packagefile. The connectivity manager 348 may, for example, manage wirelessconnectivity. The notification manager 349 may, for example, provide anevent such as an arrival message, an appointment, a proximitynotification, etc. to a user. The location manager 350 may, for example,manage location information of an electronic device. The graphic manager351 may, for example, manage a graphic effect that will be provided tothe user, or a user interface related with this. The security manager352 may, for example, provide system security or user authentication.

According to an embodiment, the middleware 330 may include a telephonymanager for managing a voice or video call function of the electronicdevice, or a middleware module capable of forming a combination offunctions of the aforementioned constituent elements. According to anembodiment, the middleware 330 may provide a module that is specializedby type of an operating system. The middleware 330 may dynamicallydelete some of the existing constituent elements, or add new constituentelements.

The API 360 is, for example, a set of API programming functions, and maybe provided to have another construction according to the operatingsystem. For example, Android or iOS may provide one API set by platform,and Tizen may provide two or more API sets by platform.

The application 370 may, for example, include a home 371, a dialer 372,a short message service (SMS)/multimedia message service (MMS) 373, aninstant message (IM) 374, a browser 375, a camera 376, an alarm 377, acontact 378, a voice dial 379, an electronic mail (e-mail) 380, acalendar 381, a media player 382, an album 383, a watch 384, a healthcare (e.g., measuring a momentum, a blood sugar or the like), or anenvironment information (e.g., air pressure, humidity, or temperatureinformation) provision application. According to an embodiment, theapplication 370 may include an information exchange application capableof supporting information exchange between an electronic device and anexternal electronic device. The information exchange application may,for example, include a notification relay application for relayingspecific information to the external electronic device, or a devicemanagement application for managing the external electronic device. Forexample, the notification relay application may relay notificationinformation provided in another application of the electronic device, tothe external electronic device, or receive notification information fromthe external electronic device and provide the received notificationinformation to a user. The device management application may, forexample, install, delete, or refine a function (e.g.,turned-on/turned-off of the external electronic device itself (or somecomponents) or adjustment of a brightness (or resolution) of a display)of the external electronic device which communicates with the electronicdevice, or an application which operates in the external electronicdevice. According to an embodiment, the application 370 may include anapplication (e.g., a health care application of a mobile medicalinstrument) designated according to properties of the externalelectronic device. According to an embodiment, the application 370 mayinclude an application received from the external electronic device. Atleast a part of the program module 310 may be implemented (e.g.,executed) as software, firmware, hardware (e.g., the processor 210), ora combination of at least two or more of them, and may include a modulefor performing one or more functions, a program, a routine, sets ofinstructions or a process.

The term “module” used in the document may include a unit consisting ofhardware, software or firmware, and may be, for example, usedinterchangeably with the term “logic”, “logic block”, “component”,“circuitry” or the like. The “module” may be an integrally configuredcomponent or the minimum unit performing one or more functions or a partthereof. The “module” may be implemented mechanically or electronically,and may, for example, include an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC) chip, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or a programmablelogic device, which has been known or will be developed in future,performing some operations. At least a part of an apparatus (e.g.,modules or functions thereof) or method (e.g., operations) according tovarious embodiments may, for example, be implemented as an instructionwhich is stored in a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., the memory130) in the form of a program module. In response to the instructionbeing executed by a processor (e.g., the processor 120 of FIG. 1), theprocessor may perform a function corresponding to the instruction. Thecomputer-readable recording medium may include a hard disk, a floppydisk, a magnetic medium (e.g., a magnetic tape), an optical recordingmedium (e.g., a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disk (DVD)), a magneto-optical medium (e.g., a flopticaldisk), an internal memory, etc. The instruction may include a code whichis made by a compiler or a code which is executable by an interpreter.The module or program module according to various embodiments mayinclude at least one or more of the aforementioned constituent elements,or omit some of them, or further include another constituent element.Operations carried out by the module, the program module or the anotherconstituent element according to various embodiments may be executed ina sequential, parallel, repeated or heuristic manner, or at least someoperations may be executed in different order or may be omitted, oranother operation may be added.

FIG. 4 illustrates the configuration of a processor 400 according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure. According to one embodiment, theprocessor 400 may be a processor (e.g., the processor 120 or 210) of anelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101 or the electronicdevice 201).

Referring to FIG. 4, the processor 400 may include a determinationmodule 402, an authentication module 404, and an output control module406.

According to various embodiments, the determination module 402 maydetermine the authentication suitability of at least one biometricrecognition method (or biometric recognition sensor). Authenticationsuitability may be a value indicating the degree to which a biometricrecognition method is suitable to be used for user authentication. Forexample, authentication suitability may include the success rate atwhich authentication is successful with information to be obtained via abiometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, thedetermination module 402 may obtain context information associated witheach biometric recognition method available for authentication using aplurality of sensors (e.g., the sensor module 240 of FIG. 2) of theelectronic device. Further, the determination module 402 may determinethe authentication suitability of each biometric recognition method onthe basis of the context information associated with each biometricrecognition method. For example, when it is determined thatauthentication information unsuitable for authentication may be obtainedby at least one biometric recognition method, the determination module402 may determine that the authentication suitability of the at leastone biometric recognition method is low on the basis of contextinformation. Further, when it is determined that authenticationinformation suitable for authentication may be obtained by at least onebiometric recognition method, the determination module 402 may determinethat the authentication suitability of the at least one biometricrecognition method is high on the basis of context information.

For example, the determination module 402 may collect contextinformation associated with at least one of external illuminanceinformation of the electronic device, a movement of the electronicdevice, and the orientation of the electronic device in order todetermine the authentication suitability of a face authenticationmethod. For example, when the processor 400 uses the face authenticationmethod in a state where an illuminance is darker than a predefinedbrightness, authentication information including noise may be obtainedthrough an image sensor. Accordingly, the determination module 402 maydetermine the illuminance to be darker than the predefined brightness ascontext information in which unsuitable authentication information maybe obtained. Further, when the processor 400 uses the faceauthentication method in a state where a movement of the electronicdevice greater than a predefined movement occurs, authenticationinformation having the contour of a face which is not clear may beobtained through the image sensor. Accordingly, the determination module402 may determine the movement of the electronic device to be greaterthan the predefined movement as context information in which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained. In addition, when theprocessor 400 uses the face authentication method in a state where theorientation of the electronic device is out of a predefined angle,authentication information having a face which does not look forward maybe obtained through the image sensor. Accordingly, the determinationmodule 402 may determine the orientation of the electronic device whichis out of the predefined angle as context information in whichunsuitable authentication information may be obtained.

In another example, the determination module 402 may collect contextinformation associated with at least one of illuminance information,movement information about the electronic device, and orientationinformation about the electronic device in order to determine theauthentication suitability of an iris authentication method. Asdescribed above, the determination module 402 may determine theilluminance to be darker than the predefined brightness, a movement ofthe electronic device greater than the predefined movement, and theorientation of the electronic device which is out of the predefinedangle as context information in which unsuitable authenticationinformation may be obtained. Further, when the processor 400 uses theiris authentication method in a state where an illuminance exceeds thepredefined brightness, authentication information having an irisnarrowed by an expanded pupil may be obtained through an iris sensor.Accordingly, the determination module 402 may determine the illuminanceexceeding the predefined brightness as context information in whichunsuitable authentication information may be obtained.

In still another example, the determination module 402 may collectcontext information associated with a state where a fingerprint sensoris damaged or the fingerprint sensor is stained with foreign material inorder to determine the authentication suitability of a fingerprintauthentication method. For example, when the processor 400 uses thefingerprint authentication method in the state where the fingerprintsensor is damaged or the fingerprint sensor is stained with foreignmaterial, a distorted fingerprint image may be obtained or a fingerprintimage may not be obtained through the fingerprint sensor. Accordingly,the determination module 402 may determine the state where thefingerprint sensor is damaged or the fingerprint sensor is stained withforeign material as context information in which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained. For example, when at leastone reception (RX) line (e.g., a sensing electrode) receives a signalwith a specified sensitivity or less or receives no signal with respectto a signal of at least one transmission (TX) line (e.g., a driverelectrode) of the fingerprint sensor, the determination module 402 maydetermine that the fingerprint sensor is damaged. In addition, when areference level of charges or less is continuously detected for acertain time at the intersection of at least one transmission (TX) lineand at least one reception (RX) line of the fingerprint sensor, thedetermination module 402 may determine that the fingerprint sensor isstained with foreign material.

According to various embodiments, the determination module 402 maydetermine guide information for improving the recognition rate for atleast one biometric recognition method by which user authentication hasfailed. According to one embodiment, the determination module 402 maydetermine guide information for removing or reducing a negativeenvironmental factor that has affected an authentication operationduring the authentication operation.

For example, the processor 400 may fail user authentication whenauthentication information is distorted by at least one of theilluminance information, the movement information about the electronicdevice, and the orientation information about the electronic devicewhich does not satisfy a predefined condition while the authenticationoperation is performed. Accordingly, the determination module 402 maydetermine at least one piece of information which does not satisfy thepredefined condition as a negative environmental factor. In anotherexample, the processor 400 may fail user authentication when a body part(e.g., a face or an iris) used for authentication is screened by anobject (e.g., glasses, sunglasses, a hat, or lenses) and thus is notrecognized. Accordingly, the determination module 402 may determine theobject screening the body part as a negative environmental element. Instill another example, when the authentication operation is performed ina state where a biometric recognition sensor is damaged or thefingerprint sensor is stained with foreign material, authenticationinformation for user authentication may be distorted or may not beobtained, and thus the processor 400 may fail user authentication.Accordingly, the determination module 402 may determine the state wherethe biometric recognition sensor is damaged or the biometric recognitionsensor is stained with foreign material as a negative environmentalfactor. In addition, when a predefined area or less of an object to beauthenticated (e.g., a body part) touches the biometric recognitionsensor, when the object to be authenticated does not touch the biometricrecognition sensor for a predefined period of time, or when an object tobe authenticated which is stained with foreign material touches thebiometric recognition sensor, authentication information for userauthentication may be distorted or may not be obtained, and thus theprocessor 400 may fail user authentication. Accordingly, thedetermination module 402 may determine a state where authenticationinformation of the predefined area or less is obtained, a state whereauthentication information is not recognized for the predefined periodof time, or a state where authentication information including foreignmaterial is obtained as a negative environmental factor.

According to various embodiments, the authentication module 404 mayperform an authentication operation for user authentication. Accordingto one embodiment, the authentication module 404 may obtainauthentication information using at least one biometric recognitionmethod. For example, the authentication module 404 may obtainauthentication information using a first biometric recognition method.In addition, the authentication module 404 may obtain authenticationinformation using a second biometric recognition method different fromthe first biometric recognition method. For example, the authenticationmodule 404 may perform an authentication operation of obtaining areference template associated with a biometric recognition methodselected for authentication from among reference templates correspondingto various stored biometric recognition methods and comparing thereference template with authentication information.

According to various embodiments, the output control module 406 mayoutput the authentication suitability of a biometric recognition methodavailable for authentication. According to one embodiment, the outputcontrol module 406 may output an object corresponding to a biometricrecognition method. In addition, the output control module 406 maychange the attributes of an object corresponding to at least onebiometric recognition method on the basis of authentication suitability.For example, the output control module 406 may change the attributes(e.g., brightness, chroma, contrast, size, or shape) of the object sothat a biometric recognition method having a certain level (e.g., anauthentication-possible level) of authentication suitability isdistinguished from a biometric recognition method not having the certainlevel of authentication suitability. For example, the output controlmodule 406 may output an object corresponding to the biometricrecognition method having the certain level of authenticationsuitability in a highlighted manner. Further, the output control module406 may output guide information for improving the recognition rate ofat least one biometric recognition method by which user authenticationhas failed.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosuremay include: a first biometric sensor configured to obtain biometricinformation using a first method; a second biometric sensor configuredto obtain the biometric information or different biometric informationusing a second method; a display; and a processor. The processor may beconfigured to: obtain context information associated with the firstmethod and the second method; select at least one method of the firstmethod and the second method on the basis of at least part of thecontext information; and display at least one graphic objectcorresponding to the at least one method for authentication.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to obtainexternal environment information of the electronic device using thefirst biometric sensor, the second biometric sensor, or a sensor capableof detecting external light of the electronic device which isfunctionally connected to the electronic device in at least part of anoperation of obtaining the context information. For example, theexternal environment information of the electronic device may includeilluminance information.

According to one embodiment, the sensor capable of detecting theexternal light of the electronic device may include at least one of anillumination sensor and an image sensor.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to obtainattribute information about a function running in the electronic devicein least part of an operation of obtaining the context information.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to:identify a first success rate, at which authentication is successfulwith the biometric information to be obtained via the first method, anda second success rate, at which authentication is successful with thebiometric information or the different biometric information to beobtained via the second method, on the basis of at least part of thecontext information; and change a display attribute of the at least onegraphic object on the basis of at least part of the first success rateand the second success rate.

According to one embodiment, when at least one success rate of the firstsuccess rate and the second success rate is within a pre-specifiedrange, the processor may be configured to display guide information forenabling the at least one success rate to satisfy a different specifiedrange.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosuremay include: a first biometric sensor configured to obtain biometricinformation using a first method; a second biometric sensor configuredto obtain the biometric information or different biometric informationusing a second method; a display; and a processor. The processor may beconfigured to: obtain context information associated with the firstmethod and the second method; identify a first success rate, at whichauthentication is successful with the biometric information to beobtained via the first method, and a second success rate, at whichauthentication is successful with the biometric information and thedifferent biometric information to be obtained via the second method, onthe basis of at least part of the context information; and display agraphic object corresponding to the first method and a graphic objectcorresponding to the second method on the display on the basis of atleast part of the first success rate and the second success rate.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to displayguide information for enabling at least one success rate which does notsatisfy a specified value among the first success rate and the secondsuccess rate to satisfy the specified value.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to obtaincontext information associated with at least one of external environmentinformation of the electronic device, movement information of theelectronic device, orientation information of the electronic device, andan operation state of the first biometric sensor and the secondbiometric sensor. For example, the environment information may includeilluminance information.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to performan authentication operation using the first method or the second methodselected via the graphic objects.

According to one embodiment, the electronic device may further include amemory configured to store a first reference template associated withthe first method and a second reference template associated with thesecond method. The processor may be configured to obtain a referencetemplate corresponding to the selected method from the memory.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to displaynotification information when the first method or the second methodwhich does not satisfy a pre-specified success rate is used forauthentication.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to: obtaincontext information associated with the first method or the secondmethod by which authentication fails; and display guide information forimproving a success rate on the basis of at least part of the contextinformation.

According to one embodiment, the processor may be configured to controlan operation of the first biometric sensor or the second biometricsensor on the basis of at least part of the first success rate and thesecond success rate.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation of the electronic device 101 (e.g., theprocessor 400) according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 501, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,the output control module 406) may enter an authentication mode.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may enter theauthentication mode by outputting a screen for requesting anauthentication operation. For example, the electronic device 101 mayenter the authentication mode in a lock function-enabled state (or alock state).

In operation 503, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402) may collect context information associated with a biometricrecognition method (or a biometric recognition sensor) used forauthentication on the basis of at least one sensor (e.g., anillumination sensor, an acceleration sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, agyro sensor, or the like). According to one embodiment, when a pluralityof biometric recognition methods (e.g., a face recognition method, aniris recognition method, a fingerprint recognition method, and the like)can be used for authentication, the electronic device 101 may collectcontext information associated with each biometric recognition method.For example, the electronic device 101 may collect context informationassociated with at least one of external illuminance information of theelectronic device 101, orientation and movement information about theelectronic device 101, and operation state information of the biometricrecognition sensor.

In operation 505, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402 or the output control module 406) may output theauthentication suitability of a biometric recognition method that can beused for authentication on the basis of the collected contextinformation. According to one embodiment, authentication suitability maybe a value indicating the degree to which a biometric recognition methodis suitable to be used for user authentication.

For example, when it is determined that authentication informationunsuitable for authentication may be obtained by at least one biometricrecognition method, the electronic device 101 may determine that theauthentication suitability of the at least one biometric recognitionmethod is low. Accordingly, the electronic device 101 may output theauthentication suitability of the biometric recognition method using anobject indicating low authentication suitability. Further, when it isdetermined that authentication information suitable for authenticationmay be obtained by at least one biometric recognition method, theelectronic device 101 may determine that the authentication suitabilityof the at least one biometric recognition method is high. Accordingly,the electronic device 101 may output the authentication suitability ofthe biometric recognition method using an object indicating highauthentication suitability. In addition, the electronic device 101 mayoutput authentication suitability in a graphic form, an audio form, avibration form, or the like.

In another example, the electronic device 101 may output theauthentication suitability of only at least one biometric recognitionmethod that is determined as a method by which authenticationinformation suitable for authentication may be obtained among biometricrecognition methods that can be used for authentication. For example,the electronic device 101 may select a biometric recognition methodhaving the highest authentication suitability and may output theauthentication suitability of the selected biometric recognition method.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation of the electronic device 101 (e.g., theprocessor 400) according to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG.7 shows an example illustrating an authentication procedure according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure. According to one embodiment, theprocedure for performing the authentication operation may include adetailed operation of operation 505 illustrated in FIG. 5.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may outputthe authentication suitability of a biometric recognition methodsupported by the electronic device 101 and may select a biometricrecognition method to use for an authentication operation on the basisof user input.

Referring to FIG. 6, in operation 601, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,the determination module 402) may determine the authenticationsuitability of each biometric recognition method supported by theelectronic device 101. According to one embodiment, the electronicdevice 101 may determine the authentication suitability of an activatedbiometric recognition method specified by the user to be executed uponentering the authentication mode and the authentication suitability of adeactivated biometric recognition method not specified by the user. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may determine the authenticationsuitability of each biometric recognition method on the basis of atleast one of external illuminance information of the electronic device101, a movement of the electronic device 101, the orientation of theelectronic device 101, and an operation state of a biometric recognitionsensor (e.g., whether the biometric recognition sensor is damaged).

In operation 603, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402 or the output control module 406) may output theauthentication suitability on the basis of the determination result.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may output theauthentication suitability so that the user can recognize a biometricrecognition method suitable for authentication and a biometricrecognition method unsuitable for authentication before theauthentication operation is performed. For example, the electronicdevice 101 may output an object corresponding to each biometricrecognition method supported by the electronic device 101. In addition,the electronic device 101 may change the attributes of the object on thebasis of the authentication suitability so that a biometric recognitionmethod having a certain level of authentication suitability isdistinguished from a biometric recognition method not having the certainlevel of authentication suitability. Further, the electronic device 101may change the attributes of the object so that the activated biometricrecognition method is distinguished from the deactivated biometricrecognition method. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, theelectronic device 101 may apply (700) an effect such that a biometricrecognition method having high authentication suitability (e.g., an irisrecognition method 702) is more highlighted than a biometric recognitionmethod having low authentication suitability (e.g., a fingerprintrecognition method 704 or a face recognition method 706). Further, theelectronic device 101 may apply a solid line effect to the activatedbiometric recognition method (e.g., the iris recognition method 702 andthe fingerprint recognition method 704) to be distinguished from thedeactivated biometric recognition method (e.g., the face recognitionmethod 706) to which a dotted line effect is applied. According tovarious embodiments, the electronic device 101 may distinctively displaybiometric recognition methods by changing at least one of the color,contrast, shape, size, position, and transparency of the object at leaston the basis of the authentication suitability.

In operation 605, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402 or the authentication module 404) may detect input to selecta biometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may detect input to select at least one biometricrecognition method for authentication (e.g., unlocking) among thebiometric recognition methods supported by the electronic device 101.

In operation 607, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may perform an authentication operation on the basis of theat least one selected biometric recognition method. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may obtain authenticationinformation using a biometric recognition sensor corresponding to the atleast one selected biometric recognition method. For example, when anobject associated with face recognition is selected from among outputobjects, the electronic device 101 may operate an image sensor to obtainauthentication information including the face of the user. In addition,when an object associated with fingerprint recognition is selected fromamong the output objects, the electronic device 101 may operate afingerprint sensor to obtain authentication information including afingerprint of the user. Furthermore, when an object associated withiris recognition is selected from among the output objects, theelectronic device 101 may operate an iris sensor to obtainauthentication information including the iris of the user. For example,the electronic device 101 may perform an authentication operation ofcomparing authentication information obtained using a biometricrecognition sensor with a stored reference template.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) processes authentication through aselected biometric recognition method according to various embodimentsof the disclosure. FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B show examples illustrating aprocedure for processing a biometric recognition method according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure. According to one embodiment, anoperation of processing a biometric recognition method may include adetailed operation of operation 605 illustrated in FIG. 6.

According to various embodiments, with authentication suitabilityoutput, the electronic device 101 may register at least one biometricrecognition method as an activated biometric recognition method.

Referring to FIG. 8, in operation 801, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,the determination module 402 or the authentication module 404) maydetermine whether an activated biometric recognition method specified bya user is selected for authentication. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may determine whether to perform an authenticationoperation using the activated biometric recognition method specified bythe user to be executed upon entering the authentication mode.

When the activated biometric recognition method is selected forauthentication, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may perform an authentication operation on the basis of theselected biometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may obtain authentication information via abiometric recognition sensor corresponding to the selected recognitionmethod. For example, the electronic device 101 may perform an operationassociated with operation 607 illustrated in FIG. 6.

When a deactivated biometric recognition method is selected forauthentication, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may perform an operation for activating the selectedbiometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, in operation803, the electronic device 101 may perform a user authenticationoperation using a pre-specified activated biometric recognition method.When the user authentication operation is completed, the electronicdevice 101 may output a screen for activating the selected biometricrecognition method in operation 805. For example, when the deactivatedbiometric recognition method is selected (900) as illustrated in FIG.9A, the electronic device 101 may output a screen 910 for storing areference template for the selected deactivated biometric recognitionmethod, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, or a screen for activating theselected deactivated biometric recognition method.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) performs an authenticationoperation on the basis of a selected biometric recognition methodaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 11 shows anexample illustrating an authentication operation according to variousembodiments of the disclosure. According to one embodiment, theprocedure for performing the authentication operation may include adetailed operation of operation 607 illustrated in FIG. 6.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may outputauthentication suitability and may then perform an authenticationoperation on the basis of a biometric recognition method selected by auser.

Referring to FIG. 10, in operation 1001, the electronic device 101(e.g., the authentication module 404) may identify a reference templatecorresponding to a biometric recognition method selected forauthentication. The reference template may be the result of coding (orencoding) information used for authentication (e.g., an authenticationimage) as reference information for the selected biometric recognitionmethod. According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 mayobtain the reference template associated with the biometric recognitionmethod selected for authentication from among various stored referencetemplates corresponding to biometric recognition methods. For example,when a first biometric recognition method (e.g., an iris recognitionmethod) is selected for authentication, the electronic device 101 mayobtain a reference template obtained by coding an iris image among thestored reference templates. Further, when a second biometric recognitionmethod (e.g., a fingerprint recognition method) is selected forauthentication, the electronic device 101 may obtain a referencetemplate obtained by coding a fingerprint image among the storedreference templates.

In operation 1003, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may obtain authentication information for authentication.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may operate abiometric recognition sensor corresponding to the biometric recognitionmethod selected for authentication to obtain authentication information.Further, the electronic device 101 may output a screen displaying guideinformation for guiding an object to be authenticated (e.g., a face, afinger, or an eye) to a predetermined position (e.g., the range of anangle of view (FOV) of the biometric recognition sensor). In anotherexample, at least one biometric recognition sensor (e.g., a fingerprintsensor) may be embedded in a screen (e.g., a display). In this case, asillustrated in FIG. 11, the electronic device 101 may output guideinformation 1104 for guiding the object to be authenticated to a sensingarea 1102 easy for authentication among sensing areas of the biometricrecognition sensor included in the screen. For example, the electronicdevice 101 may determine at least one of an area of the sensor that isintact and an area that is not stained with foreign material as an areaeasy for authentication.

In operation 1005, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may perform an authentication operation using theauthentication information and the reference template. According to oneembodiment, the reference template may be coded (or encoded) data.Accordingly, the electronic device 101 may generate an authenticationtemplate by coding (or encoding) the obtained authenticationinformation. Further, the electronic device 101 may perform anauthentication operation by comparing the authentication template withthe reference template.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) performs an authenticationoperation on the basis of a selected biometric recognition methodaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 13 shows anexample illustrating a procedure for performing an authenticationoperation according to various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingto one embodiment, the procedure for performing the authenticationoperation may include a detailed operation of operation 607 illustratedin FIG. 6.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may outputguide information for improving the recognition rate for at least onebiometric recognition sensor that has failed in user authentication.

Referring to FIG. 12, in operation 1201, the electronic device 101(e.g., the authentication module 404) may identify the result of anauthentication operation. According to one embodiment, the electronicdevice 101 may determine whether there is a certain level of similaritybetween authentication information obtained by a selected biometricrecognition method and a stored reference template. For example, when itis determined that the authentication information has a certain level ofsimilarity to the reference template, the electronic device 101 maydetermine that authentication is successful. When it is determined thatthe authentication information does not have the certain level ofsimilarity to the reference template, the electronic device 101 maydetermine that the authentication has failed.

When the authentication fails, the electronic device 101 (e.g., thedetermination module 402) may collect context information associatedwith a biometric recognition sensor that has performed theauthentication operation in operation 1203. According to one embodiment,the electronic device 101 may collect the context information whileobtaining the authentication information via the biometric recognitionsensor.

In operation 1205, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402) may output guide information for improving the recognitionrate on the basis of the context information. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may determine a negativeenvironmental factor that has affected the biometric recognition sensor(e.g., a biometric recognition sensor used for authentication) and mayoutput guide information on the basis of the determination result. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may define guide informationcorresponding to a negative environmental factor as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Environmental factor Guide information Illuminance abovereference value Move to the dark Illuminance below reference value Moveto the light Orientation of electronic device out of Move electronicdevice toward reference value face Foreign material (or moisture) Removeforeign material on sensor or body part Noise above reference valueRemove noise Noise below reference value Remove vibrations

For example, when it is determined that authentication informationunsuitable for authentication is obtained due to ambient illuminance,the electronic device 101 may output guide information indicating a moveto a place brighter or darker than a current brightness. When it isdetermined that authentication information unsuitable for authenticationis obtained due to the presence of foreign material on an object or thebiometric recognition sensor, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the electronicdevice 101 may output (1300) guide information indicating removal offoreign material.

When the authentication is successful, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,the processor 400) may release a lock function in operation 1207.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., processor 400) performs an authentication operationfor an application according to various embodiments of the disclosure.FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B show examples illustrating a procedure forperforming an authentication operation according to various embodimentsof the disclosure. According to one embodiment, the procedure forperforming the authentication operation may include a detailed operationof operation 1207 illustrated in FIG. 12.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 mayrecommend a biometric recognition method on the basis of thecharacteristics of an application when user authentication is requiredduring execution of the application.

Referring to FIG. 14, in operation 1401, the electronic device 101(e.g., the processor 400) may execute at least one application in astate where a lock function is released (e.g., an unlocked state).Further, the electronic device 101 may determine whether userauthentication is required upon execution of the application or duringexecution of the application. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may determine whether a screen accessible only byan authenticated user (e.g., a payment screen or a personal informationinput screen) is output when the application is executed.

When authentication is not required, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,the processor 400) may remain locked. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may maintain execution of the application.

When authentication is required, the electronic device 101 (e.g., theprocessor 400, the determination module 402, or the output controlmodule 406) may recommend a biometric recognition method on the basis ofthe security level of the executed application in operation 1403.According to one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 15A, when anapplication (e.g., a web browser) having a first security level (e.g., alow security level) is executed, the electronic device 101 may recommend(1500) a biometric recognition method (e.g., an iris recognition method1502, a fingerprint recognition method 1504, and a face recognitionmethod 1506) corresponding to a first group as an authentication method.For example, the biometric recognition method corresponding to the firstgroup may be any biometric recognition method supported by theelectronic device 101. As illustrated in FIG. 15B, an application (e.g.,a banking application) having a second security level (e.g., a highsecurity level) is executed, the electronic device 101 may recommend(1510) a biometric recognition method (e.g., an iris recognition method1512 or a fingerprint recognition method 1514) corresponding to a secondgroup as an authentication method. For example, the biometricrecognition method corresponding to the second group may include abiometric recognition method having a certain security level. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may provide the biometric recognitionmethod corresponding to the second group excluding a biometricrecognition method (e.g., a face recognition method) having a securitylevel lower than the certain level as a recommended authenticationmethod.

In operation 1405, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402 or the authentication module 404) may detect input to selecta biometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may detect input to select at least one biometricrecognition method for authentication (e.g., unlocking) amongrecommended authentication methods.

In operation 1407, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may perform an authentication operation on the basis of atleast one selected biometric recognition method. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may obtain authenticationinformation using a biometric recognition sensor corresponding to the atleast one selected biometric recognition method. Further, the electronicdevice 101 may perform an authentication operation of comparing theauthentication information obtained using the biometric recognitionsensor with a stored reference template.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation of an electronic device 101 (e.g., theprocessor 400) according to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG.17 shows an example illustrating a procedure for performing anauthentication operation according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. According to one embodiment, the procedure for performingthe authentication operation may include a detailed operation ofoperation 505 illustrated in FIG. 5.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may outputthe authentication suitability of a pre-specified activated biometricrecognition method and may select a biometric recognition method to usefor an authentication operation on the basis of user input.

Referring to FIG. 16, in operation 1601, the electronic device 101(e.g., the determination module 402) may determine the authenticationsuitability of a pre-specified activated biometric recognition method.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may determine theauthentication suitability on the basis of context informationassociated with the pre-specified activated biometric recognitionmethod. For example, operation 1601 is different from operation 601 ofFIG. 6 in that the authentication suitability of a deactivated biometricrecognition method is not determined.

In operation 1603, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the output controlmodule 406) may output the authentication suitability of the activatedbiometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may output the authentication suitability so thata user can recognize an activated biometric recognition method suitablefor authentication and an activated biometric recognition methodunsuitable for authentication before an authentication operation isperformed. For example, the electronic device 101 may output an objectcorresponding to the activated biometric recognition method. Inaddition, the electronic device 101 may distinguish a biometricrecognition method having a certain level of authentication suitabilityfrom a biometric recognition method not having the certain level ofauthentication suitability on the basis of the authenticationsuitability. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 17, the electronicdevice 101 may apply authentication suitability to each activatedbiometric recognition method, thereby distinguishing an activatedbiometric recognition method having high authentication suitability(e.g., an iris recognition method 1702 or a fingerprint authenticationmethod 1704) from a biometric recognition method having lowauthentication suitability (e.g., a face recognition method 1706)(1700).

In operation 1605, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the processor 400 orthe determination module 402) may detect input to select a biometricrecognition method. According to one embodiment, the electronic device101 may determine a biometric recognition method to use forauthentication among activated biometric recognition methods on thebasis of the input.

In operation 1607, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the authenticationmodule 404) may perform an authentication operation on the basis of theselected biometric recognition method.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) outputs authentication suitabilityaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 19 shows anexample illustrating a procedure for outputting authenticationsuitability according to various embodiments of the disclosure.According to one embodiment, the procedure for outputting theauthentication suitability may include a detailed operation of operation1603 illustrated in FIG. 16.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may provideguide information for improving authentication suitability for abiometric recognition method by which unsuitable authenticationinformation may be obtained.

Referring to FIG. 18, in operation 1801, the electronic device 101(e.g., the determination module 402) may determine whether there is anactivated biometric recognition method having an authenticationsuitability less than a reference value among activated biometricrecognition methods on the basis of authentication suitability.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may determinewhether there is a biometric recognition method by which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained among the activated biometricrecognition methods.

When it is determined that there is no activated biometric recognitionmethod having an authentication suitability less than the referencevalue, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the output control module 406)may perform an operation of outputting the authentication suitability ofan activated biometric recognition method. According to one embodiment,the electronic device 101 may perform an operation associated withoperation 1603 illustrated in FIG. 16.

When it is determined that there is an activated biometric recognitionmethod having an authentication suitability less than the referencevalue, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the output control module 406)may output guide information for improving authentication suitability inoperation 1803. According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101may determine a negative environmental factor that affects the biometricrecognition method and may output guide information on the basis of thedetermination result. For example, the electronic device 101 may outputguide information for reducing a negative environmental factor for abiometric recognition method by which unsuitable authenticationinformation may be obtained. For example, the electronic device 101 maydetermine, on the basis of at least one sensor, that the externalilluminance of the electronic device 101 (e.g., illuminance less than areference brightness) affects a biometric recognition method.Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the electronic device 101 mayoutput (1900) guide information 1902 for inducing an illuminance changein order to improve authentication suitability.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) outputs guide information forimproving authentication suitability according to various embodiments ofthe disclosure. According to one embodiment, the procedure foroutputting the guide information may include a detailed operation ofoperation 1803 illustrated in FIG. 18.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may controlthe operation of the electronic device 101 in connection with abiometric recognition method that is not improved in authenticationsuitability. According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 maycontrol the operation of a biometric recognition sensor associated witha biometric recognition method that is not improved in authenticationsuitability, thereby reducing battery consumption.

Referring to FIG. 20, in operation 2001, with guide information forimproving authentication suitability output, the electronic device 101(e.g., the determination module 402) may collect context informationassociated with a biometric recognition method by which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained on the basis of at least onesensor. According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 mayre-determine the authentication suitability of the biometric recognitionmethod determined as a method by which unsuitable authenticationinformation may be obtained on the basis of the collected contextinformation.

In operation 2003, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402) may determine whether the authentication suitability of thebiometric recognition method determined as a method by which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained is changed. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may determine whether theauthentication suitability of the biometric recognition methoddetermined as a method by which unsuitable authentication informationmay be obtained is improved.

When the authentication suitability is changed, the electronic device101 (e.g., the output control module 406) may determine that theauthentication suitability is improved and may output the changedauthentication suitability in operation 2007. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may change the biometricrecognition method determined as a method by which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained to an activated biometricrecognition method having high authentication suitability.

When the authentication suitability is not changed, the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) may determine that theauthentication suitability is not improved and may control the operationof a biometric recognition sensor associated with the biometricrecognition method determined as a method by which unsuitableauthentication information may be obtained in operation 2005. Accordingto one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may change the operationcycle of the biometric recognition sensor or may stop the operation ofthe biometric recognition sensor. For example, the electronic device 101may control the operation of the biometric recognition sensor, therebyreducing battery consumption.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) determines a biometric recognitionmethod to use for authentication according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B show examples illustrating a procedurefor changing a biometric recognition method according to variousembodiments of the disclosure. According to one embodiment, theprocedure for determining the biometric recognition method to use forauthentication may include a detailed operation of operation 1605illustrated in FIG. 16.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 may predictthe authentication accuracy of a biometric recognition method selectedfor authentication.

Referring to FIG. 21, in operation 2101, the electronic device 101(e.g., the determination module 402) may determine whether a biometricrecognition method by which unsuitable authentication information may beobtained is selected for authentication. According to one embodiment,the electronic device 101 may determine whether a biometric recognitionmethod having an authentication suitability less than a reference valueis selected for authentication.

When a biometric recognition method by which suitable authenticationinformation can be obtained is selected, the electronic device 101(e.g., the authentication module 404) may perform an authenticationoperation on the basis of the selected biometric recognition method.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may perform anoperation associated with operation 1607 illustrated in FIG. 16.

When a biometric recognition method by which unsuitable authenticationinformation may be obtained is selected, the electronic device 101(e.g., the output control module 406) may indicate that an inaccurateauthentication result may be produced by the selected biometricrecognition method in operation 2103. According to one embodiment, whena biometric recognition method by which unsuitable authenticationinformation may be obtained (2201) due to external illuminance (e.g.,illuminance less than a reference brightness) as illustrated in FIG.22A, the electronic device may output guide information 2203 indicatingthat unsuitable authentication information may be produced due toexternal illuminance as illustrated in FIG. 22B. Further, when a newbiometric recognition method is selected after indicating that aninaccurate authentication result may be produced, the electronic device101 may perform an authentication operation using the selected biometricrecognition method. When a new biometric recognition method is notselected, the electronic device 101 may perform an authenticationoperation using an already selected biometric recognition method.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating another procedure for performing anauthentication operation of the electronic device 101 (e.g., theprocessor 400) according to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG.25A and FIG. 25B show examples illustrating an authentication operationaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 23, in operation 501, the electronic device 101 (e.g.,the output control module 406) may enter an authentication mode.According to one embodiment, the electronic device 101 may enter theauthentication mode by outputting a screen for requesting anauthentication operation. For example, the electronic device 101 mayenter the authentication mode on the basis of user input (e.g., wake-upinput) in a lock function-enabled state (sleep state or lock state).

In operation 2303, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402) may collect context information associated with a biometricrecognition method (or biometric recognition sensor) used forauthentication on the basis of at least one sensor. According to oneembodiment, when a plurality of biometric recognition methods (e.g., aface recognition method, an iris recognition method, a fingerprintrecognition method, and the like) may be used for authentication, theelectronic device 101 may collect context information associated witheach biometric recognition method. For example, the electronic device101 may collect context information associated with at least one ofexternal illuminance information of the electronic device 101,orientation and movement information about the electronic device 101,and operation state information of the biometric recognition sensor.

In operation 2305, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402) may determine the authentication suitability of a biometricrecognition method that can be used for authentication on the basis ofthe collected context information. According to one embodiment,authentication suitability may be a value indicating the degree to whicha biometric recognition method is suitable to be used for userauthentication.

In operation 2307, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the output controlmodule 406) may output at least one biometric recognition method thatcan be used for authentication. According to one embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may output a screen displaying an objectcorresponding to the at least one biometric recognition method that canbe for authentication. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 25A, theelectronic device 101 may output an object 2501 corresponding to an irisrecognition method available for authentication, an object 2503corresponding to a fingerprint recognition method, or an object 2505corresponding to a face recognition method.

In operation 2309, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the determinationmodule 402 or the processor 400) may detect input to select a biometricrecognition method to use for authentication. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may detect input to select one ofthe objects output on the screen.

In operation 2311, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the output controlmodule 402) may output the authentication suitability of a selectedbiometric recognition method. According to one embodiment, when input2510 to select the object corresponding to the iris recognition methodamong the output objects is detected as illustrated in FIG. 25A, theelectronic device 101 may output the authentication suitability 2512corresponding to the object selected by the user on the screen asillustrated in FIG. 25B.

In operation 2313, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the processor 400 orthe determination module 402) may identify detected input whileoutputting the authentication suitability of the selected biometricrecognition method. According to one embodiment, the input may includeinput to select another biometric recognition method for performing anauthentication operation. The input may also include input to perform anauthentication operation using the selected biometric recognitionmethod.

Upon detecting the input to perform the authentication operation usingthe selected biometric recognition method, the electronic device 101(e.g., the authentication module 404) may perform an authenticationoperation on the basis of the selected biometric recognition method inoperation 2315.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the electronicdevice 101 (e.g., the processor 400) detects user input while outputtingauthentication suitability according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. FIG. 25B and FIG. 25C show examples illustrating anauthentication operation according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. According to one embodiment, the procedure for detecting theuser input may include a detailed operation of operation 2311illustrated in FIG. 23.

In operation 2401, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the processor 400 orthe determination module 402) may determine whether input to select adifferent biometric recognition method is detected. According to oneembodiment, the electronic device 101 may determine whether input torequest the authentication suitability of a different biometricrecognition method is detected.

When input to select a different biometric recognition method isdetected, the electronic device 101 (e.g., the output control module406) may output the authentication suitability of the differentbiometric recognition method in operation 2403. According to oneembodiment, upon detecting input 2520 to change a biometric recognitionmethod as illustrated in FIG. 25B, the electronic device 101 may outputthe authentication suitability 2522 of a changed biometric recognitionmethod as illustrated in FIG. 25C. In addition, upon detecting input2523 to perform an authentication operation using a different selectedbiometric recognition method, the electronic device 101 may perform anauthentication operation accordingly.

An operating method of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the disclosure may include: obtaining context informationassociated with a first biometric recognition method and a secondbiometric recognition method; identifying a first success rate, at whichauthentication is successful with biometric information to be obtainedvia the first biometric recognition method, and a second success rate,at which authentication is successful with biometric information to beobtained via the second biometric recognition method, on the basis of atleast part of the context information; and displaying a graphic objectcorresponding to the first method and a graphic object corresponding tothe second method on the basis of at least part of the first successrate and the second success rate.

According to one embodiment, the displaying of the graphic object mayinclude displaying guide information for enabling at least one successrate which does not satisfy a specified value among the first successrate and the second success rate to satisfy the specified value.

According to one embodiment, the context information may be associatedwith at least one of external environment information of the electronicdevice, movement information of the electronic device, orientationinformation of the electronic device, and an operation state of thefirst biometric sensor and the second biometric sensor. For example, theenvironment information may include illuminance information.

According to one embodiment, the operating method may further includeauthenticating a user using the first method or the second methodselected via the graphic objects.

According to one embodiment, the authenticating of the user may include:storing a first reference template associated with the first method anda second reference template associated with the second method; andobtaining a reference template corresponding to the selected method fromamong the stored reference templates.

According to one embodiment, the authenticating of the user may includedisplaying notification information when the first method or the secondmethod which does not satisfy a specified success rate is used forauthentication.

According to one embodiment, the authenticating of the user may include:obtaining context information associated with the first method or thesecond method by which authentication fails; and displaying guideinformation for improving a success rate on the basis of at least partof the context information.

An electronic device and an operating method thereof according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure may provide the recognition rateof a biometric recognition method on the basis of context information ormay recommend a biometric recognition suitable for an authenticationoperation, thereby improving the user recognition rate of the electronicdevice.

Various embodiments disclosed herein are provided merely to easilydescribe technical details of the disclosure and to help theunderstanding of the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scopeof the disclosure. Therefore, it should be construed that allmodifications and changes or modified and changed forms based on thetechnical idea of the disclosure fall within the scope of thedisclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a firstbiometric sensor configured to obtain biometric information using afirst biometric recognition method; a second biometric sensor configuredto obtain the biometric information or different biometric informationusing a second biometric recognition method; a display; and a processor,wherein the processor is configured to: obtain context informationassociated with the first biometric recognition method and the secondbiometric recognition method respectively, determine authenticationsuitability levels of the first biometric recognition method and thesecond biometric recognition method respectively based on the contextinformation, display a first graphic object corresponding to the firstbiometric recognition method and a second graphic object correspondingto the second biometric recognition method respectively based on theauthentication suitability levels, wherein a graphic objectcorresponding to a biometric recognition method having a predeterminedlevel of authentication suitability is displayed to be distinguishedfrom a graphic object corresponding to a biometric recognition methodnot having the predetermined level of authentication suitability, detectan input for selecting a graphic object of the first graphic object andthe second graphic object, in response to the selected graphic objectcorresponding to the biometric recognition method having thepredetermined level of authentication suitability, perform anauthentication operation using the biometric recognition method havingthe predetermined level of authentication suitability, and in responseto the selected graphic object corresponding to the biometricrecognition method not having the predetermined level of authenticationsuitability, display first guide information indicating that unsuitableauthentication information can be produced.
 2. The electronic device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine theauthentication suitability levels of the first biometric recognitionmethod and the second biometric recognition method by identifying afirst success rate, at which authentication is successful with thebiometric information to be obtained via the first biometric recognitionmethod, and a second success rate, at which authentication is successfulwith the biometric information or the different biometric information tobe obtained via the second biometric recognition method, based on thecontext information.
 3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the processor is further configured to display second guideinformation for enabling the biometric recognition method not having thepredetermined level of authentication suitability to satisfy thepredetermined level of authentication suitability.
 4. The electronicdevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to obtain the context information associated with at leastone of external environment information of the electronic device,movement information of the electronic device, orientation informationof the electronic device, and an operation state of the first biometricsensor and the second biometric sensor.